Scarlet Memories
by Blargel
Summary: A Scarlet sisters backstory of sorts. May contain some inconsistencies with both the Touhou timeline as well as real life's timeline.
1. Chapter 1

This fan fiction was something I wrote years ago and never finished. I only ever got two chapters written when I lost steam for some reason. Recently, I suddenly got the urge to finish the story which has been sitting in my head for a long long time so here I am, and here it is.

* * *

><p>How long had it been?<p>

The girl stared up at the dark ceiling of the room. Finding nothing interesting to stare at, she tried sitting up, the bed springs under her creaking as she shifted her weight. As she stared out into the shadows, the cracked cement walls stared back at her in silence. As there were no flames nor windows, the darkness engulfed the entirety of the room, but she didn't mind. The little girl huddled in the perpetual twilight had already grown accustomed to it. Her blood-red eyes had adjusted centuries ago.

Like so many other times, she mindlessly fiddled with the frilled hem of her dirty red dress, trying to pass the time in her dreary room. Eventually, she slumped back down on the bed, deciding that sleeping was the most tolerable way to wait for her next meal. Her black and almost skeletal wings, decorated with an arrangement of crystalline shards, folded behind her as she settled in bed, lying on her side. Her red-ribboned hat, originally white but now stained slightly pinkish, had long slipped off her blonde head and fallen onto the floor as she stared at the tiny room and its few furnishings - a table with a stub of a candle sitting in a rusted holder, a chipped and rickety wooden chair, and the tiny creaky bed that she was on.

And, of course, there was the door.

Hardly any sound was ever heard coming from behind that thick iron-wrought door. The quiet, unlike the darkness, wasn't always as tolerable. Every so often, the girl had the urge to shout, to scream, but always managed to control herself, holding conversations with her stuffed bear instead to break the silence. Like the rest of the room, the bear was in poor condition. Its left eye had already fallen off and its right one was attached only by a single loose thread. One of its arms had a large tear, its white stuffing poking out. She picked it up from the side of the bed and held it in front of her face.

"Why can't I fall asleep?" she asked the bear, "I'm not allowed out of my room but there's nothing to do. I want to leave, but I'm a good girl. Remilia told me that I should stay down here because it was safer. What should I do?"

The bear made no reply, instead staring back expressionlessly as if it had heard this story too many times in the past. For another few seconds, the girl regarded the bear as if expecting it to talk back before tossing it aside, sighing, and trying to sleep again.

"Lady Flandre, I've brought your dinner," said a soft voice just outside of the heavy door. With an awful grinding noise, a small gap slid open on the door and a pair of deep blue eyes framed by silver hair could be seen before a slender hand reached through with a plate of what looked like a steak cooked rare. The little girl picked herself up from her bed and took the food. The hand withdrew and Flandre's scarlet eyes met with the azure eyes of the servant.

"Thanks, Sakuya," mumbled Flandre as the gap slid shut again with the same cacophonous sound. The steak was warm yet still bloody, just how she liked it, but it was also somewhat small. However, she had grown accustomed to being hungry as dinner was the only meal that she got every day. She wasn't too sure of the details, but it seemed that Sakuya personally caught and prepared her meals. A difficult job, you see, because Flandre was a vampire. The steak was made of human meat.

As Flandre ate, she wondered just how long she had been living like this. For as far back as she could remember, she had been in this room in the basement of a mansion. Her caretaker hadn't always been Sakuya, but the routine was always the same: sleep and eat, eat and sleep. Occasionally her sister would visit, but it was incredibly rare. The last visit was a year or two ago when Sakuya had failed to show up with a meal. The sliding gap opened like usual but instead of the usual blue eyes, crimson eyes like her own peered through. And then, the lock clicked open, the door slowly swung open, and her elder sister Remilia came in with a smile. The past couple of days back then had been unusually cold, but Remilia reassured Flandre that it would be over soon because Sakuya was out solving the problem. And she was right too - soon afterwards, it started getting warm again. Remilia's visits were always extremely enjoyable as they broke the monotony of her life.

The silverware clinked against the empty plate. Flandre had already finished her steak, but she hardly noticed the persistent gnawing sensation that was still in her stomach. An idea had just come into her mind. Surely her sister wouldn't mind if she returned the favor and visited her, would she? Flandre toyed with the idea as she picked up the empty plate and placed it on the metal tray next to the sliding gap where it would be picked up later. Lying down on the bed again, she imagined how happy Remilia would be to see her little sister visiting. There was a cynical little voice in the back of her head telling her that Remilia might not be happy at all, but she ignored it. She wouldn't know without trying, right?

Flandre was so fired up about this idea that she jumped back out of bed again, grabbed her hat and walked up to the door with the intention of opening it by force. It was too easy. With no effort, she swiped a glowing right hand through the hinges of the door, melting the iron cleanly. With her left hand, she pushed on the now free-standing door and it began to tip over. With a thundering thud that shook the surroundings and cracked the cement floor, the heavy iron door fell to the ground.

"Oops," she said aloud. And just as she was thinking,_ I hope that didn't wake anyone up_, the darkness of the basement was suddenly dispelled by the light of several lanterns coming down the spiral stairwell. Suddenly, what looked like a whole battalion of people turned the corner at the last set of stairs and stopped short at the scene. At the head was a silver-haired girl who gave off an aura of elegance. Her attire was a blue French maid uniform complete with headdress and apron. By the light of the lantern she was holding, Flandre could see that she had blue eyes.

"Mistress Flandre, what are you doing?" Sakuya calmly asked.

The vampire smiled sweetly, revealing her characteristic fangs, as she replied with, "I'm going to see my sister."

"I'm afraid I cannot let you do that," said the maid, "If you wish to see your sister, we can arrange for her to come instead."

"No!" shouted Flandre, and the walls shook slightly as if echoing to her frustration, "You don't understand, Sakuya! Remilia is always the one who comes to see me! For once, I want to go to see her!"

Sakuya hesitated for a moment. Flandre's desire was understandable, but the consequences of giving her freedom were unpredictable. Flandre was too strong and had a very dangerous magical ability. She had only been out of the basement under Sakuya's employment once before and the result that time had been devastating. Upon learning of the defeat of Remilia in a battle, she had gone berserk and rampaged her way out of the basement, demanding to see who had hurt her beloved sister. The resident elemenalist had cast a rainstorm spell, taking advantage of a vampire's inability to cross flowing water and containing the mayhem, but it had taken the very same person who had defeated the older vampire, a certain shrine maiden by the name of Reimu, to tire her out in the longest battle Sakuya had ever seen. In the end, the repairs for the mansion had taken well over a month even with the hired help of nearly tireless fairies and youkai.

"Very well, I will escort you to Lady Remilia," Sakuya relented. _As long as Flandre wasn't upset, she wouldn't rampage like last time_, she reasoned. Something as innocent as a sisterly visit wasn't going to destroy a whole section of the house again. Flandre's eyes lit up and the tension level of the group of people behind the maid dropped tangibly. She took a few steps out of the room onto the collapsed door before running up to Sakuya, who flinched slightly, and hugging her.

"Thank you, Sakuya!" she exclaimed. This was the very first time she had actually been given permission to go out of the basement in a very long time. It had been so long since she had been able to climb the spiral staircase without fear of getting caught and forced back. The whole climb up, Flandre was tingling with excitement. She was going to see her big sister again! Finally they reached the top and with a wordless wave of the hand from Sakuya, the group of people accompanying her quickly dispersed themselves. Flandre was surprised to see that all of them were, in fact, wearing the same type of maid's dress that Sakuya was wearing - it had been hard to see while her eyes were adjusting to the light.

"This way, Mistress Flandre," beckoned Sakuya, pointing down a long windowless hallway. The two of them passed many doors both open and shut, leading to storerooms, sitting rooms, tearooms, maid quarters, and many other rooms whose functions Flandre could only guess. They also passed many other maids tidying up the huge mansion who paused in their work just long enough to stare at who was walking next to the head maid.

Up another staircase and halfway down another long corridor, they reached their destination - the observatory. As the head maid, Sakuya knew her mistress' habitual schedule by heart. Tonight was the full moon - Remilia would, without a doubt, be gazing at it, watching its journey across the dark skies. Pulling open the double wooden doors, they saw that the elder vampire was indeed sitting in the middle of the glass dome of a room. The creaking hinges from the doors, however, caused her to turn her attention to the unexpected interruption.

"Oh, Sakuya," she said before her scarlet eyes fell on the other girl. They widened slightly. "And Flan."

"Remi!" exclaimed the little sister as she ran up for a hug.

"Forgive me, mistress, but she-" started Sakuya, but Remilia cut her off with an idle wave.

"It's fine, Sakuya. I trust your judgment," she said as she returned her sister's affectionate hug. "And since you're here, would mind making some tea? For Flandre too, I think."

"Of course, my lady."

Flandre looked back to thank Sakuya again, but where the silver-haired maid had been, there was already nothing but a sliver of moonlight. Even the doors had been shut again without having made the slightest noise. Before Flandre could wonder about this strange phenomenon, however, Remilia drew her attention again by nudging her slightly. It was only then that she realized that her arms were still wrapped tightly around her sister.

Flandre let go quickly embarrassedly and settled with gazing at her beloved sister. She was still exactly as she last remembered. Though she looked as young as a thirteen-year-old child, Remilia's eyes seemed to reflect her real age and the wisdom and intelligence that came with the centuries. Unlike Flandre's blonde hair, Remilia's hair was a purple-ish blue. She wore an off-white dress, tinted slightly pink, similar in style to Flandre's, but longer and noticeably better taken care of. Her wings, too, differed from Flandre's. Instead of strange skeletal wings, hers were like a giant bat's, the full wingspan of which was definitely longer than she was tall. The only identical thing between the two sisters were their headwear.

"So why did you have Sakuya bring you all the way up here?" inquired Remilia, smiling warmly at her little sister.

"I wanted to see you!" Flandre answered, "Since we haven't seen each other in so long..."

"Yes, you're right. I'm sorry for not visiting as often as I should, but if you wanted to see me, why didn't you just have Sakuya come fetch me?"

"That's what she said too! But you're always the one visiting me. I wanted to come visit you instead, but-" Flandre stopped. She would have gone on, but stopped as a new thought occurred to her. Now that she had actually acted on her idea, it seemed like such a stupid reason. She only wanted to see Remilia so what difference did it make on who was visited who? "But I guess I should've just stayed in the basement..." she finished dejectedly.

"I suppose so." It was only three words, but those three words struck Flandre with much weight. To her, it meant that she had messed up, that her reason to visit really was just a silly excuse, that she had caused so much trouble for everyone for no reason. It also meant that her sister hadn't even wanted to see her.

"But since you're out here already, you might as well stay out for a while longer. At least, until Sakuya brings us the tea," Remilia continued, oblivious to the storm that was building up in Flandre.

There was a brief moment of silence as neither girl could think of anything to say before Flandre broke the quiet with a question, "Hey, Remi? Why do I have to stay in my room anyway?"

"Because it's safest that way for everyone," Remilia replied automatically.

"But why is it safest?" persisted the younger vampire.

Remilia hesitated. She had never been asked that question before so she didn't have an answer ready. Should she tell the truth? Making up a story to prevent a disaster would have been best but there was no time to be creative.

"Everyone in this world has a unique magical inclination," she started, "I'm sure you've noticed this a long time ago, but your magic leans heavily towards destruction."

"Yeah...?"

"Have you noticed that when you feel a rush of emotions, even positive ones like joy, you tend to use your ability by accident? You have almost no control over your magic at those times, but if you stay in your room, there isn't anything to make you lose control. That's why it's the safest."

"But I can control it now!" Flandre insisted, "I promise I won't hurt anyone!"

"It's too risky. I'm sorry"

"Don't you trust me?" demanded Flandre, "I'm your sister!"

Remilia hesistated. She was now acutely aware of Flandre's imminent explosion, but was there anything she could do anymore?

"Yes, I do."

Flandre's eyes narrowed.

"Liar."

The next moment, there was a flash of light and a deafening roar as the observatory's wall behind Flandre exploded, causing shards to spray in all directions. Remilia shielded her face with her arms from the rubble, dust, and fragments of glass that flew at her. When her vision cleared and the dust settled, she saw that there was now a gaping hole where one of the walls of the observatory had once been. The silhouette of a bat flashed across the full moon.

"Mistress, what happened?" Sakuya was already at Remilia's side, mere moments after the explosion.

"Flandre ran away! We need to find her!"

"Understood," the maid answered, "I'll assemble a search party immediately."

"Get the shrine maiden too. Flandre will need to be forced and she's the only one who can do it."

"Yes, mistress."

Sakuya vanished immediately, leaving Remilia alone with her thoughts. Even if they managed to get her home, there was no telling what would happen next. Flandre no longer felt like she had a reason to stay isolated and, even worse, no longer trusted her sister. Of course, there was always the last resort that Remilia hoped she never had to use. There didn't seem to be any other choice, however.

Flandre would have to die.


	2. Chapter 2

It was cold outside.

She thought that she was used to the cold after living in the dark basement for so long, but with the wind blowing against her as she flew away from the mansion, it was definitely colder outside. Flandre found herself thinking that maybe, just maybe, it had been a little reckless to leave so suddenly. Besides, in a few moments, both the mansion's grounds and skies would be filled with search parties of fairy-maids. Of course, that didn't actually mean much. What were they going to do even if they did find her? Fight her? The idea was so ridiculous that Flandre smiled in spite of her situation. For a few more seconds, she fiddled with the idea of leaving forever. It sure was tempting, but there were so many things that could, and probably would, go wrong. Where would she find food? Or deal with the cold? And when the sun rose in a few hours, where could she shelter herself? Even she was defenseless while she slept.

Sighing inwardly, the vampire accepted the fact that she had to return and turned herself around. How would she explain to her sister though? Already, in the few minutes since she had left, spots of light were scouring the grounds and skies. She easily evaded the search lights that the airborne search parties were carrying with them, not wanting to be caught just yet. Noticing that there were no splotches of light near the mansion itself, she landed on the roof and sat down to think. Should she apologize? The idea repelled her. But what else could she possibly do?

She lied down on the wooden roof, stretching and looking up at the stars and the full moon. An ancient memory stirred, some other time that she had seen the speckled night sky. It had been a full moon that time, too. Remilia had been with her. And their parents.

Flandre shook her head. For some reason she couldn't recall the faces of her parents. Or anything else about them. She felt like she was forgetting something important...

"Found ya."

Flandre jumped at the unfamiliar voice. She scurried to her feet and faced the person who had interrupted her thoughts. About ten paces away stood a solitary person. The speaker was silhouetted against the lights of the search parties, but even so, Flandre could make out a ridiculously large and wide-brimmed hat on the stranger's head and what looked like a broom held to her side.

"You _are_ Flandre Scarlet, right?" asked the stranger.

Suddenly, a bright light appeared, illuminating the surrounding area and momentarily blinding the vampire. When her eyes adjusted, Flandre saw not the mysterious silhouette, but a grinning blonde girl with a sphere of light held in her hand. She wore a black dress and hat that reminded the vampire of the witches she had seen in a picture book. For some reason though, she also had an apron., and a dirty one at that. Holding the magical light source up, the bizarrely dressed witch took a good look at Flandre.

"Well, ya match the description I got from Remilia," she said, "Alrighty! Let's get ya back in the mansion!"

"Who the heck are you?"

"Me?" The witch paused in her examination of Flandre and her grin grew wider. Standing up to her full height - which wasn't saying much considering she was only slightly taller than Flandre - she declared loudly, "I'm Marisa Kirisame! The most talented magician in Gensokyo!"

* * *

><p>"Sakuya, who exactly was that self-proclaimed 'most talented magician' that you brought instead of Reimu?"<p>

The vampire and the maid were back in the observatory again, watching not the moon but the search through the gaping hole Flandre had created. The former was sitting the in the armchair that she had been occupying previously, while the latter stood on her right side, ready to act on her mistress's orders.

"When the shrine maiden refused to help, she suggested that I try the black-white living in the forest instead," replied Sakuya. "Because of the urgency of this, I wasted no time trying to change her mind and found the witch she was referring to instead."

"I see. Was there a reason for the Reimu's refusal?"

"Yes, at this hour, you must not forget that most humans are already asleep. When I woke her up, the shrine maiden was more than a little grouchy," explained the maid, "As for Marisa, she seems to be strangely competitive. When I arrived at her house, the lights were still on and she seemed to be researching something. As soon as I mentioned that we needed help with something only Reimu managed to do before, she agreed to help immediately."

"I see," said Remilia. She fell silent for a short while, apparently thinking about something.

After a minute, she asked another question, "Do you think she can defeat Flandre, Sakuya?"

"Honestly, my lady, I do not know."

Remilia chuckled a little. "Well, I suppose we shall see. Now, that tea that you were making earlier, it ought to be done by now?"

"Yes, I'll bring it right away."

* * *

><p>Flandre stared at the Marisa. Marisa stared back expectantly. Awkward silence.<p>

How was she supposed to reply to such a ridiculous claim? The elementalist she knew was already plenty strong for a magician and it was hard to imagine that this grinning witch was better. She certainly was interesting though. There was absolutely nothing about her that stood out. No wings, no claws, no fangs, no anything that made her look as impressive as she claimed to be. Was she human? It would sure explain her weirdness.

Marisa looked a little taken aback at the silent response to her "grand" introduction but she didn't let it bother her for too long.

"Getting back to the matter at hand," she started, "Let's get ya into this crazy mansion so I can finish up here."

"Don't wanna," responded Flandre flatly, but after a slight pause she quietly added, "At least... not yet."

"If ya don't wanna go, why don't I just force ya, then?" Marisa asked cheerfully. Flandre wasn't sure if she was being serious or not.

"Why don't you leave me alone, you weirdo," the vampire responded before opening her wings and flying up and away from the roof. The conversation just now was so disorienting, she forgot that she was supposed to be avoiding the search parties, but it didn't matter. As she had predicted, though they pointed at her and shouted things like "There she is!" they did nothing to stop her.

Before Flandre had gotten even a hundred meters from the mansion, however, a thin white beam suddenly shot over her shoulder, missing the left part of her hat by mere inches and heating up the air noticeably near her left ear. Wheeling around in mid-air, she saw, to her dismay, Marisa riding her broom and following, one hand stabilizing her by grabbing the handle of the broom and the other hand extended out. From the distance, a small roundish stone with patterned grooves could barely be made out. The artifact that had just shot the laser.

"I was serious, ya know!" shouted Marisa, "Go back or I'll force ya back!"

Again, at the strangest of times, Flandre smiled. Humans sure were interesting. And stupid. From out of nowhere, she materialized her own artifact, her trusty Laevatein. If this human wanted a fight, she was going to get a fight.

* * *

><p>Marisa sensed its power before she saw it, the legendary Laevatein, the wand of destruction. A magical artifact of ridiculous strength, it was rumored to have been created and used by a god in ancient times. So what was a vampire doing with it? Well, it wasn't important anyway. Only three facts were important to Marisa: Flandre was her opponent, Flandre was strong, and Flandre had been beaten by Reimu. If her best friend could win a fight against this vampire, then so could she! The mini-Hakkero, the stone artifact, started glowing slightly as it absorbed the magic she channeled into it.<p>

Flandre waited a few seconds as if to give her opponent time to decide to run away. When Marisa showed no signs of leaving, she shrugged and swiped the metal wand through the air over and over. In its wake, hundreds of red bolts of magic formed and threw themselves haphazardly at the witch. Within moments the airspace in front of Marisa was thick with the magic, threatening to engulf the witch in its deadly power. Marisa just dove straight into the midst of it, grabbing her hat to prevent the wind from blowing it off, still grinning. Using her own carefully aimed green bolts, she created a path by negating Flandre's magic with her own and hurtled through it.

Chancing a glance at the source of the magic, Marisa saw Flandre yawning. Was she even paying attention? That overconfidence was going to be her downfall. The witch smirked as she raised her arm and shot a few lasers. They pierced through the red sea of needles, and caught a surprised Flandre in the chest. The force of the magic knocked her off balance, causing her to lose control of her flight and fall the long distance to the ground. The impact sent up dust everywhere, but when it settled, it was quite clear that Flandre was far from being finished.

"Ha...hahahahaha..." She laughed mirthlessly as she slowly picked herself up. The laugh sent chills down Marisa's spine. When the vampire fully stood up, Marisa could see, even from the sky, that all traces of sanity had left the vampire's face.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Flandre's laughter grew louder and more demented as she grabbed a card from inside her dress and held it up. Marisa heard her say "Taboo 'Laevatein'!" and the card dissipated into nothingness.

It was unmistakably a spellcard declaration. Instantly, the wand in Flandre's right hand engulfed itself in scarlet energy which spread and lengthened until it became an impossibly long sword. As if to test it out, she slammed it down to her side, leaving a long deep gash in the earth. She began laughing again. Then, with superhuman strength, she pushed off from the ground and flew at an alarming speed at the witch while swinging the magical blade, her face contorted with insanity.

It was with instinct rather than conscious will that allowed Marisa to dodge the vampire's wild attack. Not a moment too soon, she accelerated out of the way, but with almost no time for breath, Flandre was already diving back down for a follow up. Acting quickly, Marisa also pulled a card from her dress and declared her own spellcard.

"Ritual Sign 'Orreries Sun'!"

As the card disappeared, four magical orbs burst from it and started orbiting Marisa. Flandre's red blade clashed against one of the orbs, destroying it but causing it to erupt in the process. She was blown backwards by the shock but immediately lunged forward for another assault. Marisa sped backwards, trying to put some distance between them as she shot lasers and bolts at the berserk vampire, but Flandre was oblivious to the pain of the magic pummeling her body. She caught up and swung the sword at the witch again, but it caught another of the orbs, causing another explosion of energy.

Marisa thought she might be going nuts herself for considering this maneuver even as she zoomed forward to tackle the momentarily stunned vampire with her broom. The wind was knocked out of her as she rammed into Flandre, the two remaining orbiting orbs crashing into the vampire as well. Flandre spun wildly through the air, trying to restablize her flight, but dropped her wand in the process. It immediately lost whatever enchantment Flandre's spellcard had given it, turning back into a metal stick as it fell through the air and made a dull thunk as it hit the ground. Flandre wasn't laughing now, though her expression was still void of sanity. She still wasn't defeated yet.

"Taboo 'Kagome Kagome'" Flandre hissed.

Another spellcard. With no time to react, Marisa suddenly found herself enclosed in a green cage of energy. Flandre slowly approached the trapped magician.

"Kagome kagome, the bird in the cage," she began to sing softly, "When will you come out?"

The witch tried to disrupt the energy making up the cage with her own magic, but immediately it reformed itself, leaving her as trapped as ever.

"In the evening of daybreak," Flandre continued, "The crane and turtle slipped."

Looking back at the vampire, Marisa saw that both of her hands were holding enormous yellow orbs that were steadily growing in size. I guess it's time for my trump card, thought Marisa.

"Who is behind now?" concluded Flandre, and with that she threw the yellow orbs at the cage.

"Magicannon 'Final Spark'!"

The spellcard disintegrated and Marisa felt her magic reserves being forcefully drained dry by the mini-Hakkero as it released it all in one tremendous blast. A giant rainbow laser spewed forth from the artifact, easily destroying the cage and the destructive spheres of yellow. It engulfed a surprised Flandre, causing her to careen through the night sky before she slammed into a tree. Then gravity took its turn and pulled her to the ground where she stayed, unmoving.

Marisa landed on the ground, breathing heavily. Throughout the whole fight, she hadn't taken a single hit yet her body was shaking from the stress she had just put it through. The last spellcard had forced every last bit of spirit energy she had left into that attack. After dusting herself off a bit and pocketing the Hakkero, she went to go find Flandre. Two steps forward, however, something glinted in the darkness, grabbing her attention. It was the Laevatein. She pocketed that too before walking up to where she saw the vampire fall. Despite all that she had been through, there wasn't a single indication of injury on Flandre's body. Her dress was slightly more tattered now, but besides that she looked like she could have been sleeping.

With a great sigh, Marisa threw the limp body over her shoulder and started to make her way back to the mansion by foot. There was no way she could use the broom in this condition. Flandre didn't weigh too much. She was perhaps less than ninety pounds, but for Marisa, who was hardly any heavier, carrying the girl back to the mansion was a huge strain for her already overworked body. As she trudged up the hill, she passed some lingering fairy-maids from the search who offered no help, instead preferring to whisper among themselves about what they had just witnessed. Another human had beaten Flandre? Two exceptions to the rule? Unthinkable. Marisa didn't mind too much about the unhelpfulness of the maids, though, as the snatches of hushed conversation that she heard only served to boost her already somewhat bloated ego. Eventually, she arrived at the giant iron gates that stood in front of the main entrance of the mansion. They were locked.

"Crap, now what the hell am I supposed to do?" the witch muttered. As if in reply, a loud snore issued from what she had taken to be a moss-covered rock. Except now that she looked at it closely, it was rising and falling slightly, perfectly in time with the snores. She nudged the lump of green with her foot but that did nothing more than to draw a small grunt from it. Finally, after two more nudges that yielded the same results, she kicked it. Hard.

"Ow!"

A brilliantly red-haired girl sat up from a strange sleeping position, rubbing her bottom as she tried to determine what had just smacked her. Taking far longer than what should have been normal, she noticed Marisa.

"Do you have business here?" she mumbled sleepily, rubbing her eyes as she asked. Marisa raised an eyebrow.

"Who the heck are you?"

"Me?" the redhead asked. She stood up and dusted off her green Chinese-style dress. "I'm the door guard to the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Hong Meiling. And you were trying to get in without permission, weren't you?"

"No, I was tryin' to wake your lazy butt up," Marisa retorted, "Now I'm tryin' to get in. Open up."

"No," Meiling replied instantly, "Not unless you have business with the mistress."

"Business, huh?" Marisa repeated. Apparently, this lazy door guard had missed the entire series of events that had just happened. Probably slept through it all, though Marisa couldn't see how that was possible from what she heard. How could anyone sleep through an exploding wall, hundreds of maids swarming the grounds, and an airborne battle complete with crazy laughter? Well, whatever. Marisa shifted Flandre from her shoulder to her arms, cradling her like a baby. "Why don't ya take a look at who I'm carryin'?"

Meiling was still trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes as she approached the witch and her unconscious companion. She looked. Then, she rubbed her eyes some more, blinked a few times, and looked again.

"Oh, it's Mistress Flandre," Meiling said matter-of-factly. And then something clicked in her head. "Wait, F-Flandre! When did she get out!"

"Does this count as 'business' with your mistress?" Marisa asked sarcastically.

"Y-Yes, of course! I'll let you in right away!"

The door guard fished a small key out of a pocket and fumbled with the lock a bit before pulling the gates open. Marisa stepped through and headed to the front door as Meiling swung the heavy gates shut again. A loud click told the witch that she was now locked in. _What a dimwit_, Marisa thought to herself as she made her way down the curvy path to the double doors in front.

The front entrance doors were huge. Marisa grabbed a ring hanging from one of the two brass lion heads mounted on the door as door knockers and only had to knock once before the doors opened, revealing the head maid. Sakuya's eyes widened as they took in the scene in front of her: the witch, completely unharmed, with the vampire, unconscious, in her arms. Without waiting for an invitation from the stunned Sakuya, Marisa marched in and kicked the doors closed.

"Are ya gonna take her or not?" asked Marisa, "She's getting pretty damn heavy."

"Give her to me," replied a voice from behind Marisa. She turned around to see Remilia standing in a doorway. Marisa turned Flandre over to her sister's hands, who turned back and started to walk away down a hallway. "Sakuya, please show our guest back home."

"Hey!" called Marisa. Remilia glanced back.

"You can leave now," she said back, "Thank you for your help."

"Wha-? Don't I get a reward or something?"

"A reward? I never said anything about a reward," Remilia replied. She started down the hallway again with her sister.

"Ya mean to tell me that I risked my life just now for nothing?" demanded Marisa. The elder vampire ignored her. Marisa had half a mind to just go chase her down and demand some sort of compensation, but the maid was obviously not going to let her do that. _Whatever_, she thought to herself, _I've got something interesting already anyway_. She smirked a little as she felt the weight of the Laevatein in her dress. After heading outside, she mounted her broom and tested it to see if she could handle flying with her recovering magic now. The broom responded well enough and so brought it up and headed off to the Forest of Magic, where her house was hidden in some dark corner.

* * *

><p>Remilia carried her unconscious sister lower and lower, down to the basement, back to the little undecorated room, one hand holding her and the other a bright lantern. The iron door was still lying on the cement floor where Flandre had left it earlier today, complete with blobs of reformed metal through the hinges where she had melted it. Remilia laid Flandre down on the little bed and stood back, wondering what she should do next. If she really was going to end it, now would be the best time before Flandre regained consciousness. Kill her now and she would never have to worry about something like this happening ever again. Kill her now, while she still had the resolve to do the unthinkable. Remilia grabbed the wooden chair and snapped off a leg as a makeshift stake. As she stood over her little sister, she took a deep breath and held the stake over her head. It was now or never.<p>

Something stopped her. Was Flandre... were those tears? The lantern light reflected off some drops of water running down her sister's cheeks. Remilia wiped one of them away and at her touch, Flandre mumbled something.

"... all my fault... I'm sorry..."

A tear trickled down Remilia's cheek as her grip loosened and the chair leg clattered to the floor. She couldn't do it after all.


	3. Chapter 3

Unedited. Will be changing in the near future.

* * *

><p>Remilia's brows furrowed as she listened to her head maid's report on the damages caused by Flandre's tantrum. The destroyed walling wasn't such a huge loss, but why did she have to blow a giant hole in the observatory's glass windows AND melt off the hinges of the iron-wrought door? High quality glass was difficult enough to obtain in Gensokyo, but where was she going to find an ironworker that was skilled enough to repair the door and willing to work in a vampire's dwelling?<p>

"Finally, several of the maids that were out searching for Mistress Flandre reported that the battle left some scars in the landscaping."

Another annoyance. Well, landscaping was hardly important. "Just ignore that. Focus on getting the observatory repaired and cleaned up."

"Yes, mistress," affirmed Sakuya. "One last thing, though, if I may."

"Yes?"

"Mistress Flandre is currently still unconscious in her room. What action should we take when she awakens?"

Remilia considered the situation carefully. There was no door to discourage her from leaving her room anymore and the two of them just had an argument. She had even used force to bring her back into her room. Remilia was almost certain that her little sister wouldn't want to listen to anything she had to say and some more force would be required to keep her in check, but those last words Flandre had spoken as she laid helplessly in bed echoed in her head. _All my fault. I'm sorry._

The elder vampire sighed. "Just watch over her and tell me when she wakes up."

"... As you wish."

Though her tone of voice and expression did not reveal anything, there was a momentary pause that Remilia noticed that revealed Sakuya's disagreement with the decision. However, just as always, she didn't question her mistress' orders and hurried off to give the other maids their orders. Not for the first time, Remilia couldn't help but wonder why this maid was so loyal. She was the only human out of all the inhabitants of the mansion, yet she had no fear of the vampires she served. Just what drove this woman to serve her mistress so faithfully? As she wandered aimlessly through the mansion, the vampire's thoughts drifted towards her memories of their first meeting several years ago...

* * *

><p>The mansion was in a state of disarray. An intruder had made her way past the main gates, defeating the Chinese doorguard in the process and taking out several of the fairy maids. One of the maids had seen the intruder entering the library and reported it to Remilia. Upon hearing the news, she rushed down the hall, hoping that she would make it in time to assist her friend Patchouli Knowledge, the magician who spent the majority of her days reading in the library. The door was still ajar when she got there. Quickly navigating through the familiar maze of bookcases, she made her way towards Patchouli's usual reading spot, only to find her friend collapsed on the floor in a pool of red.<p>

"Patchu! What happened!"

She hurriedly knelt down next to the magician, who coughed a few times. Thank goodness, she was still alive. Her pink pajamas, now stained crimson, had a multitude of gashes as if cut by a sharp weapon. It was a good thing Patchouli wasn't human or else she might have died from the injuries.

"Remi... be careful," the magician managed to say between coughs, "She has a strange ability..."

"A strange ability? No, more importantly, you shouldn't be talking!"

Patchouli coughed out a little blood in response and uttered one last word before losing consciousness.

"...Teleporation."

And with that she fell silent. Unforgivable. Remilia had no idea what the intruder's goals were but hurting her only friend in Gensokyo was completely unforgivable. With a new sense of purpose, she stood up and turned around.

"You're still here aren't you, Ms. intruder?" she called out, looking at the nearest bookcase where she had felt a presence.

Unexpectedly, however, the presence disappeared. No, it was behind her now! With inhuman strength, Remilia jumped up and narrowly avoided being sliced by a dagger. As soon as she caught a glimpse of the glittering steel, though, it disappeared along with its owner. In their places, a flurry of throwing knives appeared heading straight at Remilia. Opening her wings, she easily glided out of the way, but more were coming from seemingly random places. What kind of magic was this? Where were these knives coming from? The presence she had sensed earlier was moving erratically as well, avoiding her field of view. No wonder both the door guard and Patchouli were defeated.

With just this, however, they were at a stalemate. With the vampire's mastery of flying, the knives were trivial to dodge. But on the other hand, she also had no way to attack someone she couldn't see. Somehow, she had to stop these annoying ranged attacks. With that thought in mind, she flew out of the library and into the hallway. In here attacks could only come from the front and the back. There was no where to hide. Surprisingly, the intruder followed.

"You aren't like the others, are you?" came a surprisingly soft voice. A silver-haired girl with dirty ragged clothing stepped out into the hallway. There was no expression on her face. "If I defeat you, no one else will stop me, right?"

"Why are you doing this?" asked Remilia sharply, her eyes narrowing angrily.

Without any change in expression, the knife-wielding girl replied, "A noble who has everything handed to her on a silver platter would never understand."

And with that, she disappeared again. However, it was obvious that if she wasn't in front of Remilia, she would be in back. With precision and reflex no human could hope to imitate, the vampire spun around and caught the dagger that the intruder was about to stab into her. Remilia caught a surprised expression on her attacker's face before she teleported away again, though leaving her dagger behind in the vampire's hands. She reappeared several meters away, pulling another dagger out from some place in her clothes and watching Remilia warily.

Odd. Why did she leave behind her dagger? She was obviously teleporting around with it before. Was there some condition that prevented her from taking it with her? Remilia stared back at the girl as she considered this carefully. Then, she saw a glitter in the girl's left hand and something in her head clicked. Her ability wasn't teleportation at all.

As soon as she realized this, the girl disappeared again. Remilia turned and grabbed where the dagger would be again, thinking that she had gone for a back attack again. But nothing was there. Suddenly Remilia felt a searing pain in her side as her opponent stabbed the dagger into her abdomen. The intruders eyes were glinting as she smiled triumphantly. Remilia smiled back as she grabbed the girl's hand that was gripping the dagger.

"Now I have you!" With her overwhelming physical strength, Remilia, with the dagger still in her side, forced the girl to the floor and pinned both her hands down. "Like this, you can't escape, right?"

This person's ability wasn't teleportation at all - it was the ability to stop time. She wasn't able to get away with her dagger because she wasn't able to remove it from Remilia's hand while time was frozen. In her left hand, she was holding a pocket watch which seemed to work as a tool to facilitate her ability. The girl's face which had just seconds before been grinning with victory was now expressionless yet again.

"Just kill me now, you damn monster."

Remilia had no qualms carrying out this request, but she wanted to know something first.

"Why did you do this? What was your goal?"

The reply was a scoff. "I told you, someone like you would never understand."

"Hmph, why don't you try me?"

The girl's face twisted in rage.

"How can someone who has never experienced loss or sadness understand my pain!" she shouted, "You damn nobles that have never experienced the feeling of being unwanted! You damn nobles that have never experienced being feared for something beyond their control! You damn nobles that have never experienced losing everything you hold dear! There's no way someone like you could ever know what I've gone through!"

Slap!

It was deathly silent save for the sound of Remilia's hand hitting the girl's left cheek echoing down the hallway.

"'Never experienced'?" the vampire repeated angrily. Flashes of bitter memories flitted through her mind as she said these words - the mutilated bodies of her parents, the moment she and her sister lost their humanity, the torches and pitchforks of the mob of townspeople. "Don't make me laugh."

The anguish showed clearly on the vampire's face as she recalled her past. It was clear to the silver-haired girl at that moment that this person shared as much if not more hardship in her lifetime as she did. Though she was probably about to die, she couldn't help but laugh at the fact that the first person who could possibly understand her had ended up as her enemy. Her mouth curled into a slight smile, something that it hadn't done in a long long time.

"What's so funny?" Remilia asked suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing," the girl replied, "Just that my plans of grandeur are being ended by someone just like me."

"Plans of grandeur?"

"My goal was to use my ability to forcefully take over a noble's household and their wealth. In other words, I was trying to usurp your position. But look at me now," her smile changed to one of self-pity, "Even this simple plan was a failure. Just kill me now. There really is no reason for someone like me to live."

There was a moment of silence as the two looked each other in the eyes, seemingly staring into each others' souls. Then, Remilia released the girl and stood up.

"What is this? Are you showing a worthless person like me mercy?"

Remilia held out her hand. "Since you no longer have a reason to live, then let me give you one. Since you wish to die, then let your old self be killed. Discard your name and devote your life to servitude. I shall be your new mistress - the Scarlet Devil, Remilia Scarlet."

The girl sat up slowly, not quite believing what she was hearing. She let out a light chuckle.

"Though I meant it in a different way earlier, you really aren't like the others," she said with a smile, taking the offered hand, "I accept your proposal."

And she kissed the back of Remilia's hand.

"Then, your new name shall be Sakuya Izayoi, in remembrance of this fateful night."

"Yes, Mistress Remilia."

* * *

><p>"Mistress?"<p>

Remilia snapped back to the present with Sakuya's voice calling her. Somehow during her reminiscing she had wandered back into her room and was sitting on her bed. Looking towards the voice, she saw that the maid looked very troubled.

"Sakuya, what's wrong?"

"I'm not quite sure how to put this lightly, Mistress."

"Then say it bluntly."

Sakuya took a deep breathe.

"I believe the little sister has lost her memories."

* * *

><p><em>A few minutes earlier...<em>

The first thing she felt when she woke up was the painful throbbing in her head. Her eyes fluttered open. Dark. Why was it so dark? Not only that, a shiver went down her spine as her mind registered how cold it was too. As her eyes adjusted to the gloom, she took in the sight. Where was she? Why was she in such an eerie room? The walls were cracked and cold, all the furniture was dented and broken, and a heavily abused stuffed bear had been left in a corner. Another shiver went down her spine, this time not from the cold temperature, but from the from the cold atmosphere. Then she noticed the silhouette of a person standing at the entrance. Sitting up in alarm, the thin blanket that had been covering her slipped off with a light rustling noise and the mysterious figure turned its head towards her. A female voice called out.

"Mistress Flandre, are you awake?"

The bedridden girl made no reply, just staring back at the shadow apprehensively. After a bit, a small light source suddenly lit up the room, a lantern in the speaker's hands. It was a silver-haired blue-eyed maid, who was now walking towards the bed.

"Mistress Flandre?"

"F-Flandre?" she repeated the name uncertainly, "Who's that?"

The footsteps stopped abruptly. The maid was frozen midstep with a shocked expression on her face. Then, she quickly covered the remaining distance with a few quick strides and put the palm of her hand on the girl's forehead, clearly worried. There was no fever, but that just made her worries grow.

"I'll be back," said the maid before suddenly disappearing, plunging the room back into the darkness.

As girl huddled herself in the blanket again, she pondered over the meaning of the short exchange just now. "Flandre". The maid had definitely called her that. Just a second of thought was enough for her to realize that she couldn't remember not only her name but any memories. She suddenly felt lonely and scared. _My name is Flandre_, she told herself, clinging desperately to the only clue to her identity.

Shortly afterwards, light started shining through the doorway again and the maid returned with another shorter girl with bat wings. She, too, had a worried expression as she called out.

"Flandre! Is what Sakuya told me true!"

Flandre had no doubts as to what she was asking about. She couldn't even meet her eyes as she apologized, "I'm sorry."

"Don't you remember?" the other girl said in a strained voice, "It's me, your sister Remilia..."

Flandre looked at Remilia with sad eyes. There was nothing else she could say.

"I'm sorry."


End file.
